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Football in Australia has come a long way in the past five years, so much so that we now have two supporter groups claiming to act in the interests of Socceroos fans. But the rise of ‘The Green and Gold Army’ and ‘The Fanatics’ raises questions about the types of supporters who will travel to South Africa.
Both the GGA and the Fanatics are selling expensive package tours to the World Cup, with the former offering the chance to spend some quality time with those high princes of hi-jinx Kevin Muscat and John Kosmina as part of their tour.
Meanwhile, the Fanatics were founded by tennis fan Warren Livingstone – who claims that football was really his true first love – and they have been a ubiquitous sight at sporting events featuring Australian teams since 1997, both at home and abroad.
The GGA are a more recent invention, but their modus operandi is much the same, with the obvious difference the fact that they operate as a self-styled “home end” for Socceroos games only.
The problem for Socceroos fans who don’t wish to subscribe to the group mentality of the GGA – or worse still the wig-wearing shenanigans of the Fanatics – is that both groups have snapped up a substantial amount of tickets for the South African sojourn.
And like a booze-fuelled Contiki stumble through Europe, they could make their presence felt in a spirit less in keeping with the fraternal nature of the World Cup, and one that has more to do with getting plastered on foreign soil.
I know what it’s like to travel around the World Cup as a fan; I did exactly that with my girlfriend (now wife) and best mate at the 2006 finals in Germany.
But unlike the kind of package tours that base themselves in just one city, our independent trip took in at least fifteen different European cities – including memorable visits to Bruges and Prague – and we met countless other football fans along the way.
Whether it was drinking with Brazil fans at the Paulaner Bräuhaus in Munich, participating in a live on air debate with Croatian supporters for the BBC World Service, or just being among the million-strong crowd on the Berlin fan mile for the final, the whole essence of the trip was to meet fellow football fans from across the globe.
I’m not sure how often you can do that when you’re housed in a high-security camping site in Durban with the Fanatics, where roaming guards and controlled access offer an uneasy throwback to a country still recovering from the depravity of Apartheid.
For every dyed-in-the-wool Socceroos fan in Germany, I counted at least a couple of Wallabies jersey-wearing drunks desperate to burst into strains of “Waltzing Matilda” at the drop of a hat, and generally prompting quizzical looks from some of the more seasoned Australian supporters.
It’s only natural that the World Cup stirs up feelings of patriotism, and of course it’s not for me to say how fans should or shouldn’t demonstrate their support for the national team.
But many long-term Socceroos supporters can’t help but wonder just where these new-found fans were prior to 2005, and whether most of those booked on package tours in South Africa aren’t just in it for the booze and bad music.
So be it if they are, I suppose – and given the obvious security concerns and lengthy travel times in South Africa, it makes more sense for fans to book package tours than it did in Germany.
I just hope that we don’t see too many headlines of Australian fans ruining it for everyone else – be they locals or fellow football fans.
Have a great time, by all means, and support the national team with gusto, but please don’t embarrass us on the world stage.
After all, that’s the last thing that our flagging bid to host the World Cup needs.